Burn
by PlantMurderer
Summary: Set at the end of New Moon, Bella comes to a realization about her relationship with Edward and acts on it. the rating isn't exaggerated. an au one-shot based on the song "Howl" by Florence and The Machine. spoilers for New Moon.


Her mouth was a violent red against his chest as she bit down on unforgiving skin that looked almost human in the light of the kerosene lamp flickering on the ground near them.

She couldn't remember how they'd ended up this way, naked and crushing wildflowers beneath the moonlight as the pain of her wounds and the taste and sight of her blood on his skin, in his mouth, had her screaming in ecstasy; announcing both pleasure and power to the world as she provoked him.

_More, Love, give me more. _She pleaded as sharp fingernails flayed her skin. _Take more._

She'd offered him her soul once; offered all of who she was and would ever be. What was blood compared to that? What were scars that would never form, and a shallow grave, compared to that?

Suddenly angry she pulled a sharp stone from the ground beside them, reveling in the agony, the intimacy as the stone pierced her skin even as she scored the granite of his chest.

He groaned and writhed beneath her as the blood flowing from a bite mark on her breast dripped into the cut, making him appear to bleed.

Gazing into his eyes later that night she watched as golden eyes turned, red, and then darkened with more than hunger for the last precious sum of blood in her veins, more than desire for her body.

He let her use his hands as if they were hers, clawing at his skin, up his thighs and hers, and she began to burn as blood and venom mingled. As pleasure rose beyond anything she'd ever known, she heard him scream to her.

_How can I live without this fire? Without your heat, your light? You are my life, _ he declared to her as his eyes rolled back into his head and his back arched, hands clenching and tearing muscle that felt as insubstantial as spider's webs.

Anger flooded her lust and pain crazed mind. _You left, oh Love, you left. _She panted, draping herself across his chest and kissing his open mouth._ I gave you all, _she murmured against his lips_, take more. take all. and I promise that we shall never return to this place, Love. _

Her body screamed as she stretched out a hand to grip something he couldn't see. She had no plan in mind and even if she did, Alice would never be able to interfere. Their fates had been set since the moment they'd met.

_It'll be as though we never existed, _she whispered into his ear,moaning as his hand brought her a final moment of pleasure.

Then her back bowed as she lifted her eyes to the stars once more and screamed, smashing the lit kerosene lame into his chest. The flames left blisters like love bites where they kissed her, each lingering longer until the world went bright and dark at once and Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen were no more.

* * *

Bella gasped as she woke up in bed. For a moment she shuddered at the memory of the dream, and then she remembered. Edward, Italy, the Volturi… she looked around her room to find Edward sitting in the rocking chair pulled up beside her bed.

_We're going to destroy each other, _she thought, looking into his sad and desperately remorseful eyes and seeing a different type of desperation altogether_._

He spoke but she wasn't listening. She responded on autopilot as she contemplated her next actions.

If she was smart, she'd send him away and spare everyone involved the pain that the two of them could bring to their families and friends. She thought of Alice having to witness their demise and Esme losing another child. She thought of Charlie, who'd live in the town where the wind would scatter her ashes, blowing specks of her into his lungs as he drew breath to go on and continue searching for her, fruitlessly throughout the coming years.

Some phrases broke through the haze of her thoughts, phrases like 'I lied to you' like 'I never stopped loving you' like 'how could you believe me, after all I'd said before'.

Bella really was tempted to stop his self indulgent lecture, though the knowledge of his continued love for her showed like the sun after the long night of his rejection. God, how had she broken so thoroughly? How long would it be until her safety in his hands meant both of them suffering again?

The memory of revenge, of longing fulfilled, and the knowledge that she truly couldn't bear to live without him spurred her on. She listened for a while longer.

"Edward?" she interrupted later, "It's been such a long time; can we go to the meadow?"

She peaked her head into Charlie's room her mind wavering as she said a silent goodbye. The lamp felt heavy in her bag, then something else Edward had said before registered, a phrase like ' I'll be with you for the rest of your life' attached to a phrase like 'I won't change you but…' and she prayed that Charlie wouldn't search long.

Edward had set the terms. They would both die, and soon to his mind which saw years pass like hours.

It took two to make a relationship though, and her interpretation of his demand would scorch the ground and their souls tonight.

She screamed out in joy as he ran them away from Forks one last time. They'd done it his way, and frozen in grief for what felt like lifetimes.

Before dawn broke, she'd make them burn.

* * *

Based on the song "howl" by Florence and The Machine. **Thanks for reading, please review**, and for anyone who's reading my in-progress fic, the next update should come inside of the next two weeks.


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